Nama Om Vishnu Paadaya, ….
Hari Haraaya Naam Krishna Yadavaya Naama Hari Gopal Govinda Rama Sri Madhusudhan
Mukham karoti…

Transmission started abruptly

Srivas Thakur’s past life. So for almost one year as I said before Chennai devotees were taking care of me and of course some devotees from Mayapur were doing hands on work but they were there, the Chennai devotees were giving the facilities. Sometimes Shyamarasika came, sometimes Janaki Ramachandra and then my regular staff. Now I will read from the Caitanya Bhagavat.

Chaitanya Bhagavat Madhya Khanda:

Realizing the words of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Srivas Thakur, he became overwhelmed, he started rolling on the ground, crying and sighing deeply.

Caitanya Chandrodaya Naataka

Lord Caitanya Bhagavan said, Srivas, do you remember how, with My hand once I forcibly stopped your life breath from leaving your body?

Srivas said I remember, I know oh Lord of the Lords, someone saved me from dying!

The Lord has caused me to remember and hearing the Lord’s words, created a wonder in my consciousness. The Lord said, from the beginning how I was saved in this context. All the assembled devotees heard the Lord’s statement. So according to the order of Lord Gauranga Srivas spoke. So Lord Gauranga told Srivas, tell everything from the beginning to the end.

So Srivas, he said this happened before Your advent. From childhood upto my 16 years of age I was harsh, indisciplined, offensive to the guru and as a result my state of mind was in great peacelessness and my heart was cruel and merciless, my intelligence was not firmly established due to being greatly puffed up and proudly engaged in contemptible speech, quarreling unreasonably, even I dreams never chanted or heard the Lord’s glories! Then because of some unknown previous acts, a kindhearted person addressed me in my dream while I was asleep.
So this was spoken by the gentle person that came in Srivas’s ream when he was restless. Oh misbehaved, sleeping so called brahmana, I am telling the you the essence of a good advice. Thus I am telling you as my heart is compassionate. You have one year to live. So after this please worship Krishna carefully. Don’t misuse this last year of your life! Don’t waste your last year by taking intoxication and other things. Don’t throw away your life!

So saying this the Personality left. Hearing that I will have such a short life, I was feeling sad. In the morning I remembered the words of advice that that person gave me in my dream. knowing his advice was of the highest nature. So knowing that I only had a short time to live, I was very disturbed. And how I lived my previous life very frivolously, I was feeling very sad. That day I observed fasting. I remembered and followed the advice that I was given. So I remembered the auspicious advice of that person, by thinking again and again. My good fortune was awakened or arose. In the Naradiya Purana I found the following verse. By receiving this verse from the Naradiya Purana, all my sadness went far away! Reminds me of that verse in the Adhivaas – aanande seema nai, niraananda doore jaay. Srivas is saying that his sadness went far away. His sadness and lamentation went far away. Harinaam Harinaam Harinaam is the essence. There is no other way, no other way, no other way! This is the verse. Harer Naama Harer Naama Hare Naama eiva kevalam, Kalau naastyaiva naastyaiva, naastyaiva, gatir anyatha. “In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord, there is no other way, there is no other way, there is no other way.”

Krishna is the destroyer of demons, the message was taken to heart by me. So I began to consider this verse. I gave up all other dharmas, religions, duties and I surrendered to the holy names. Hare Krishna maha mantra, Govinda and other names of Krishna, were constantly chanted by me.

So I was absorbed in the mellow of chanting the holy names. And I wasn’t considering my home or anything else. People when they saw me chanting the holy name, they criticized me but I didn’t listen to the general public. I kept a peaceful mind. I had other purpose, so I chanted the holy names constantly. I counted the days and months remaining in my life, as my death approached. Very quickly a year went by and my death was fast approaching. On that day which I was supposed to die on, I considered what to do. At that time Devananda Pandit was my great friend. So he would study regularly the Srimad Bhagavatam at his house. On that day of my death, the day which I would certainly die in, I thought, let me go and listen to the Bhagavatam. Thinking that I went to the house of Devananda Pandit.

(Guru maharaj told the repeater: It is very, very intense. How can I think of time when it is a momentous occasion, when Srivas is telling about his life, about his death coming up, and you are saying it is 8.50!) Do we stop now? How many want to go on? They voted out! (the audience)

On that day, the Bhagavatam was describing the character of Prahlad. I was listening to the nectar of Prahlad, then suddenly death came. On the one hand I was happy listening to these nectarean words, I lost my consciousness. I was at that time, one incomparable person. My life air was going out of my body. At that time, He gave me a new life. I fell from the balcony of the house and then by regaining my consciousness I sat up. Then the people took me to my home.

Hearing this all the devotees became astonished! Then Bhagavan Gauranga spoke again. I was the one who came in the night and showed you the dream. Again I came again and saved you. Hearing this all the devotees were spellbound in wonder.

Smiling, Bhagavan Gauranga, He spoke again. Like iron becomes cold by the touch of the touchstone, the same thing happened to your body. Narada muni’s shakti entered into you. That is why your body had all the potencies to survive! So this is from the Caitanya Chandrodaya Naataka. How many more verses? Two verses.

So Advaita Gosain spoke the following. Who after dying comes back to life? Only one who has Your mercy! As You have promised, those who serve You, they get an eternal body. Since this happened to Srivas, certainly this is Your desire! Advaita was saying that one who performs devotional service, he gets the body of a devotee. So He gave the instruction to all the devotees. And for this reason Srivas is like this. So, since practicing devotional service and hearing the glories of Srivas, Srivas had become a warehouse of devotional mellows or devotional love.

Lord Gauranga said, what Advaita has said, is certainly true! He knows My internal intentions. Know this for certain. Thus ends the chapter entitled Srivas Thakur’s past life under the section of the 21-hour ecstatic arati. Haribol!

Any questions? Mahavaraha said you have no questions.

Tomorrow is the next chapter. We will try to start at 8.

Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi
21 February 2019